Critics who warned of World War III after Trump’s Iran strikes eat their words

When U.S. forces launched strikes against Iranian military targets in June, critics warned it could ignite a regional inferno — even the start of World War III. Four months later, the Middle East is quieter than at any point in years. Iranian proxies have scaled back attacks, Gulf tensions have cooled, and Washington has shifted attention toward the Western Hemisphere.

The unexpected calm is raising a new question: Did decisive U.S. action restore deterrence — or has Washington simply been lucky?

Those who favor a more forceful U.S. foreign policy counted Iran’s lack of a response as a win for their frame of mind — and a loss for restrainers. They now credit the strikes with bringing about a period of relative peace that culminated in a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas this week.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., publicly broke from her longtime support of President Donald Trump after the strikes.

ISRAEL’S STRIKE IN QATAR TRIGGERS RARE US REBUKE, TESTS TRUMP’S GULF DIPLOMACY

“Six months in and here we are turning back on the campaign promises, and we bombed Iran on behalf of Israel,” she said on Newsmax at the time.

“We’re entering a nuclear war, World War Three, because the entire world is going to erupt. And you know what, the people that are cheering it on right now, their tune is going to drastically change the minute we start seeing flag-draped coffins on the nightly news.”

On Monday, she praised Trump for brokering the peace deal between Israel and Hamas. “Blessed are the peacemakers! May healing begin for all.” 

“You’ve put every U.S. troop and embassy in the region at risk and squandered America’s diplomatic leverage — though you’ll likely think you’ve strengthened it,” said Adam Weinstein, deputy director of the Middle East Program at the Quincy Institute, at the time.

IRAN PRESIDENT ACCUSES US OF ‘GRAVE BETRAYAL’ WITH NUCLEAR STRIKES IN UNGA SPEECH

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., claimed the strike “put the United States on a path to a war in the Middle East that the country does not want, the law does not allow, and our security does not demand.”

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was even more blunt. “It was a good week for the neocons in the military-industrial complex who want war all the time,” he said on CBS’ Face the Nation.

Four months later, those who once warned of a spiral toward World War III are facing an uncomfortable reality: the region is largely quiet.

“Those who warned of World War III before the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran fundamentally misunderstood both the nature of deterrence and the regime in Tehran,” said Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“Strength and resolve don’t invite escalation — they prevent it. What we’ve seen in recent months is a return to deterrence through escalation dominance: Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and other American enemies are recalibrating precisely because the United States finally imposed real costs on the Islamic Republic.”

Dubowitz said years of Western restraint emboldened Iran. “For years, Western policymakers indulged in a fantasy that restraint would produce stability,” he said. “It did the opposite. Tehran read our de-escalation as weakness and kept pushing.”

“Everybody who said that a strike on Iran would be a disaster was wrong,” said Matthew Kroenig, vice president of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center and a former Pentagon strategist. “These fears about Iranian retaliation and region-wide war were exaggerated. Iran doesn’t want a major war with the United States, the greatest superpower on earth that could end its regime. Instead, Iran engaged in some kind of token retaliation, and the whole thing died down.”

Trump’s authorization of the strikes was not a departure from his “America First” principles, as Greene suggested, but a continuation of them.

“When it comes to hitting an adversary hard, Trump has always been open to that kind of short, sharp, decisive use of force to achieve a clear objective,” Kroenig said.

TRUMP’S IRAN ULTIMATUM STARTED A 60-DAY CLOCK TICKING FOR DECISIVE JUNE STRIKES, BOMBER COMMANDER REVEALS

Those in the restraint camp say they don’t count Trump’s decision as a total loss for their viewpoint. They argue that predictions of a wider war were based on a different scenario — one that Trump ultimately avoided.

“The prediction that this could lead to a wider war was for the scenario in which the U.S. would join Israel in a larger military campaign against Iran with the intent of regime change,” said Trita Parsi, co-founder of the Quincy Institute. “This is not what Trump opted for. He clearly signaled to Tehran before the strikes where he would strike to ensure that the locations would be vacated and that there would be no casualties. He also signaled his intent to only strike these sites and be done with it. This significantly reduced the risk of a larger escalation.”

Rosemary Kelanic of Defense Priorities acknowledged that the strikes were “not a win for restraint” in principle, and though the U.S. felt few repercussions, it was still a gamble.

“I think it’s really easy to learn the wrong lesson from this, which is, all we have to do is go in and bomb for 45 minutes and then everyone will back down,” she said. “Most of the time, U.S. military force doesn’t actually produce the outcomes that we want.”

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Adam Weinstein said the operation came at the cost of diplomacy, noting that the strikes took place in the midst of ongoing negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program.

“The strikes were a setback on diplomacy with Iran,” he said. “They negatively affected the world’s ability to ensure that Iran doesn’t develop a nuclear capability. It essentially destroyed trust between Iran and the international community.”

Christian student exposes college textbook calling her a ‘white supremacist’

A student at the University of North Georgia spoke out after revealing that an assigned textbook for one of her courses labeled Christianity as a “U.S.-based white supremacist group.”

Kelbie Murphy, a senior at the university, paid roughly $100 for an assigned textbook in her International Public Relations course. In Chapter 8, the opening passage reads: “An internet search produces the following modifier for identity: corporate, sexual, digital, public, racial, national, brand, and even Christian (a U.S.-based white supremacist group).” 

“The way it was worded, it listed several marginalized groups, but then only called Christians to be White supremacists,” Murphy told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “But the scariest thing is that the book was written in 2007.”

JAY JONES-TIED VIRGINIA TECH PROFESSOR SPEWED ANTI-CHARLIE KIRK MESSAGING, DISCOURAGED POLITICAL DEBATE

“This has been shared for almost 20 years, and it was never questioned,” Murphy added. “I think American academia needs a definite reevaluation, especially in our textbooks, as we can see from my prime example.”

Murphy is a devout Christian who was recently baptized in March, and she was inspired by her grandfather, a Baptist pastor in North Carolina, to “never back down” when it comes to her faith. 

“I don’t want people who don’t know who Jesus is or who don’t know what Christianity is to take this and run with this and see Christians as a U.S.-based White supremacist group.”

RUTGERS LEADER DEMANDS TPUSA OFFICERS BE OUSTED AFTER THEY CALLED OUT ANTIFA-LINKED PROFESSOR

The University of North Georgia did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, but did issue a statement in September after Murphy posted a TikTok video about the textbook that went viral.

“Recently, questions have been raised about a passage in a course textbook. After fully reviewing the concern, we want to be clear: the reference in question was not describing Christians or Christianity,” the statement read. “The passage refers to an extremist group that misuses Christian symbols to promote hate.”

Murphy did note that her professor and a school official reached out to her after the viral video, offering their apologies for being offended. 

AMERICA’S CULTURE WARS ROOTED IN UNIVERSITY CLASSROOMS, STIFLED DEBATE, SCHOLAR SAYS

The college senior is hoping to assist and possibly teach special needs students after graduation, and has focused her capstone project around the subject.

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Murphy previously interned at a nonprofit organization that offers support and inclusive programs for people with disabilities in the Georgia region.

Senate Democrats block GOP plan to end shutdown as lawmakers leave town

Senate Democrats for a 10th time blocked Republicans’ attempts to reopen the government and have ensured that the shutdown goes into next week.

That’s because after one final vote series later on Thursday, lawmakers will leave Washington, D.C., for another long weekend after just three short days on the Hill.

Neither Republicans nor Democrats are ready to flinch in their deeply entrenched positions, and talks between both sides, though largely informal exercises, have begun to fade.

REPUBLICANS PUSH TO PAY TROOPS, REOPEN GOVERNMENT AS DEMOCRATS BALK

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is determined to continue on the same course of action to keep bringing the House-passed continuing resolution (CR), which would reopen the government until Nov. 21, up for a vote again and again.

Though some in the GOP are mulling a new end date for the CR, that would require the House, which has been out of session for nearly a month, to come back and pass a new one.

While Thune and Republicans are adamant that their plan is the only pathway to ending the shutdown, now on Day 16, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the Senate Democratic caucus still want to hammer out a deal on expiring Obamacare subsidies — and they want President Donald Trump to get directly involved in negotiations.

“We’re willing to have, as I said, conversations about all the other issues that they want to talk about,” Thune said. “But that can’t happen while they are holding the federal government and all these federal employees and our troops and our air traffic controllers and our TSA agents and our border Patrol officials hostage. Open up the government.”

REPUBLICANS FUME AS DEMOCRATS BLOCK 9TH GOP BID TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT

“Every day that this goes on, the problems are compounded for federal workers and for ordinary Americans,” he continued. “Chuck Schumer may think that every day gets better for them politically, but I can tell you that is not the experience of the American people.”

When asked if he would compromise on the Democrats’ demands as the shutdown dragged on, Schumer dodged and countered that he wouldn’t negotiate in the public eye.

“The bottom line is [Republicans] won’t even negotiate with us,” Schumer said. “So that’s a premature question. But of course, I’m not going to negotiate in public. We need to address the crisis that is afflicted, and that’s the right word, the American people.”

However, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said that Republicans weren’t working on a subsidy proposal to show Democrats, and he noted that talks between the parties were “not really” happening anymore.

When asked if it was possible to get an extension of the credits before the Nov. 1 open enrollment date, he said, “I don’t think there’s a way to do that.”

“And I think if you don’t have it done by Christmas, it becomes a political issue,” Mullin said. “But you could maybe push it to January, to February, if you wanted to, but we get bumped up against, you know, everybody’s primaries, from the Democrat primaries and Republican primaries, and it becomes a political issue, because, unfortunately, healthcare is political.”

REPUBLICANS EYE FRESH FUNDING FIGHT AS SHUTDOWN STANDOFF DRAGS ON

Republicans are also trying to reignite the appropriations process in the Senate as the shutdown continues on. Thune teed up a procedural vote later Thursday on the Senate’s defense spending bill, which, among other things, would fund paychecks for the military.

Whether Democrats support the spending bill after spending months demanding a bipartisan government funding process remains an open question — many argued after their closed-door meeting on Wednesday that they didn’t know exactly what Republicans were going to put on the floor and considered a vote on it moot.

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As with most of the past 10 attempts to send the House-passed CR to Trump’s desk, the same trio of Democratic caucus members, Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine, voted with Senate Republicans.

Fetterman, who has consistently voted with the GOP every time, echoed his counterparts across the aisle and said that any outside issues aside from reopening the government could be dealt with after the lights were turned back on in Washington.

“It was wrong to shut it down in March,” he said. “I’m in the same position. It’s not going to change. Everything else we’re talking about,  open up the government first, and then we can figure out the rest.”

FIFA reacts after Trump issues warning to World Cup host city Boston amid safety concern

President Donald Trump’s threats to relocate matches scheduled in the Boston-area for the 2026 FIFA World Cup could become a reality after the international soccer organization said that the U.S. government has the final say when it comes to the safety of host cities. 

A FIFA spokesperson told ESPN that governments have final say in deciding “what is in the best interest for public safety.” 

“Safety and security are the top priorities at all FIFA events worldwide,” the spokesperson told the outlet. “Safety and security are obviously the governments’ responsibility, and they decide what is in the best interest for public safety.

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“We hope every one of our 16 host cities will be ready to successfully host and fulfill all necessary requirements.”

Fox News Digital reached out to FIFA for comment. 

The situation surrounding Boston’s standing as one of the host cities for next year’s tournament began this week when Trump suggested that he would have games moved out of Boston while discussing an incident that occurred in the city this week when a group of people took over one of the city’s streets in a violent display. 

“We can take them away. I love the people of Boston. And I know the games are sold out, but the mayor is not good. There are worse than her. At least she’s intelligent. You know, some are extremely low IQ. Those bother me more. She’s intelligent, but she’s radical left,” Trump said of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. 

TRUMP REPEATS THREAT TO MOVE WORLD CUP GAMES AWAY FROM BOSTON AFTER MAYOR BOASTS CURRENT HOSTING RIGHTS

The president added that he could call on FIFA President Gianni Infantino to make the relocation happen if he felt it was necessary. 

“The answer is yes, if somebody’s doing a bad job, and if I feel there’s unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni, the head of FIFA, who’s phenomenal, and I would say, ‘Let’s move it to another location,’ and he would do that. He wouldn’t love to do it, but he’d do it – very easily he’d do it. And this is the right time to do it.” 

Trump doubled down on his threat Wednesday, adding that, “We have the right to do that with FIFA” if the city doesn’t “straighten it out.” 

“If we think there’s any reason that, whether it’s Boston or anywhere else, that they’re not doing their job, we’re going to take those World Cup games and move them someplace else.”

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In a statement to Fox News Digital, Wu said the city is “honored and excited to host World Cup matches, and we look forward to welcoming fans from around the world to our beautiful city, the cradle of liberty and city of champions.” 

Boston is currently set to host seven matches when the World Cup comes to North America next summer. The slate includes five group-stage games, one Round of 32 fixture and the first quarterfinal, on July 9.

Popular outdoor retailer reportedly closing stores across major US cities

Outdoor retailer Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) reportedly plans to close three of its U.S. stores next year.

The closures will affect REI locations across the Northeast, including Paramus, New Jersey, during the first three months of 2026, as well as in Boston and its flagship SoHo locaftion in New York City toward the end of that year, USA Today reported.

“We are deeply grateful to our teams, our members and customers, and the stores’ communities for their support over the years,” REI said in a statement to USA TODAY. “As markets and customer needs evolve, we must adapt to position the co-op for long-term success. We will continue serving members and customers at these locations until closing, and at our other stores across the New York and Boston regions.”

OUTDOOR RETAILER REI SLASHES WORKFORCE BY MORE THAN 350 WORKERS, PREPARES FOR ‘CHALLENGING’ YEAR AHEAD

Despite the upcoming closures, the retailer has continued to expand in other areas. REI has opened six new stores this year, including in Durango, Colorado; Elk Grove, California; and Amherst, New York, according to the REI website.

The announcement comes as another longtime outdoor retailer, the Orvis Company, recently announced plans to close more than two dozen stores by 2026 as part of a broader effort to shrink its retail footprint and streamline operations in response to rising tariffs.

ICONIC 169-YEAR-OLD RETAILER TO SHUTTER 36 LOCATIONS

Orvis President Simon Perkins said in a statement that 31 stores and five outlets will shutter as the company enters a “new chapter” aimed at a “more focused retail store portfolio” and leveraging its retail partners that sell its products.

Last year, REI laid off 357 employees, according to a message shared with employees at the time by former CEO Eric Artz, who retired in March.

ROSS STORES THRIVES WITH MAJOR EXPANSION PLANS WHILE RETAIL GIANTS CLOSE LOCATIONS NATIONWIDE

“Outdoor specialty retail has experienced four quarters of decline—and that trend has been worsening,” Artz said in January of last year. “While we were able to outperform this trend for much of the last year, it caught up to us in Q4 and we now expect conditions to remain very challenging throughout 2024.”

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REI did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.

Sheriff warns of ‘family’s worst nightmare’ after gunmen track victims to their home

Authorities revealed footage of a home invasion in Florida that saw armed thieves holding a couple at gunpoint after tracking them down with an Apple AirTag this week.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said the incident occurred on Aug. 19. Suspects Luis Charles, 26, and Odardy Maldonado-Rodriguez, 32, are accused of placing an AirTag under the couple’s SUV in order to track them back to their home in Odessa, Florida.

“Suspects forced the victims into their garage at gunpoint before fleeing when an alarm was triggered. Detectives later discovered an AirTag tracking device taped beneath the victim’s vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.

Charles and Maldonado-Rodriguez are charged with armed burglary, two counts of armed kidnapping, robbery with a firearm, false imprisonment and illegal installation of a tracking device.

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“To be ambushed at gunpoint in the very place you should feel safest is every family’s worst nightmare,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. “Thanks to the work of our detectives, these dangerous criminals are now behind bars where they belong, and the victims, along with our community, can rest a little easier.”

Footage shows the couple beginning to exit their vehicle in the driveway as the two suspects run up to each side of the SUV.

They then force the couple inside the home, where an alarm soon triggered. Both suspects then fled the scene.

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Police apprehended Charles on Oct. 8 in Tampa, Florida. Upon booking Charles, police placed a notification to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the New York Post.

He was also hit with an additional charge of sexual battery by a familial or custodial authority on a person between the ages of 12 and 18.

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Police apprehended Maldonado-Rodriguez on Oct. 10 in Pasco County.

Virginia Giuffre recounts alleged abuse by Prince Andrew in posthumous memoir

Prince Andrew’s accuser, Virginia Giuffre, is recounting the multiple sexual encounters she allegedly had with the disgraced royal as a teenager. 

In her upcoming posthumous memoir, “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice,” Giuffre — who died by suicide earlier this year — opened up about her first alleged sexual encounter with Prince Andrew, which was orchestrated by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell. 

In an excerpt published by The Guardian on Wednesday, Giuffre detailed the night of March 10, 2001 — the evening she was first introduced to Prince Andrew at 17 years old. 

PRINCE ANDREW, JEFFREY EPSTEIN’S FRIENDSHIP FUELED BY ‘MONEY AND SEX’: AUTHOR

“As we chatted in Maxwell’s entryway, I suddenly thought of something: my mom would never forgive me if I met someone as famous as Prince Andrew and didn’t pose for a picture,” Giuffre wrote. “I ran to get a Kodak FunSaver from my room, then returned and handed it to Epstein. I remember the prince putting his arm around my waist as Maxwell grinned beside me. Epstein snapped the photo.”

Later that evening, after the group went to dinner and a club, Giuffre recalled Maxwell telling her, “When we get home, you are to do for him what you do for Jeffrey.”

“Back at the house, Maxwell and Epstein said goodnight and headed upstairs, signaling it was time that I take care of the prince,” she wrote. “In the years since, I’ve thought a lot about how he behaved. He was friendly enough, but still entitled – as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright.”

“I drew him a hot bath,” she continued. “We disrobed and got in the tub, but didn’t stay there long because the prince was eager to get to the bed. He was particularly attentive to my feet, caressing my toes and licking my arches. That was a first for me, and it tickled. I was nervous he would want me to do the same to him. But I needn’t have worried. He seemed in a rush to have intercourse. Afterward, he said thank you in his clipped British accent. In my memory, the whole thing lasted less than half an hour.”

“The next morning, Maxwell told me: ‘You did well. The prince had fun.’ Epstein would give me $15,000 for servicing the man the tabloids called ‘Randy Andy.’”

Giuffre’s second sexual encounter with the prince took place a month later at Epstein’s New York City town home, according to the excerpt. 

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Though Giuffre admitted she didn’t recall when the third encounter took place, she remembered the location. 

“I don’t know exactly when I had sex with Prince Andrew for the third time, but I do know the location: a 72-acre island Epstein owned in the US Virgin Islands. The private sanctuary, right next to Saint Thomas island, was called Little Saint James, but Epstein liked to call it ‘Little Saint Jeff’s,'” she wrote. 

“Also know that it was not just the two of us this time; it was an orgy. ‘I was around 18,’ I said in a sworn declaration in 2015. “Epstein, Andy, and approximately eight other young girls and I had sex together. The other girls all appeared to be under the age of 18 and didn’t really speak English. Epstein laughed about how they couldn’t really communicate, saying they are the easiest girls to get along with.”

Epstein was found dead in his New York jail cell weeks after his 2019 arrest. The American financier was awaiting trial on U.S. federal sex trafficking charges involving dozens of teenage girls and young women, some as young as 14. Investigators ruled his death a suicide.

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Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for helping lure teenage girls to be sexually abused by him. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

In August, royal experts told Fox News Digital that Andrew was grappling with private turmoil behind closed doors following the news that Giuffre would be speaking out from beyond the grave. 

“My sources tell me that there are serious concerns about Prince Andrew’s emotional well-being,” royal expert Kinsey Schofield of YouTube’s “Kinsey Schofield Unfiltered” claimed to Fox News Digital.

Andrew previously rejected Giuffre’s allegations and said he did not recall having met her. In 2022, he settled with Giuffre for an undisclosed sum, agreeing to make a “substantial donation” to her survivors’ organization. British newspapers reported amounts for the settlement ranged from $6 million to $16 million.

A statement filed in court said that the prince acknowledged Epstein was a sex trafficker and Giuffre was “an established victim of abuse.”

A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace previously told Fox News Digital they don’t answer for Prince Andrew, 65, as he’s no longer a working royal

‘Family Matters’ actor denied bail after judge says he can’t grasp legal proceedings

Darius McCrary appeared in court for the first time after his arrest earlier this month.

The 49-year-old “Family Matters” star opted to represent himself during the hearing, following his felony arrest on Sunday, Oct. 5, for an out-of-state warrant on charges related to an ongoing child support dispute case. According to footage obtained by TMZ, McCrary stated multiple times during the proceedings, “I’m here on special appearance,” prompting confusion from the judge. 

When McCrary first made the statement, the judge asked, “Especially appearing for whom?” McCrary repeated, “Specially appearing for Darius McCrary. I’m here. I’m here.”

According to TMZ, the judge then appointed a public defender for McCrary’s case, explaining the actor “is unable to understand and appreciate that legalities of these proceedings.” 

‘FAMILY MATTERS’ STAR DARIUS MCCRARY ARRESTED AT US-MEXICO BORDER ON FELONY FUGITIVE CHARGES

McCrary was denied bail and agreed to be extradited to Michigan. Authorities there now have 30 days to transfer him from the San Diego jail, where he’s been held since the arrest.

McCrary’s rep, Ann Barlow, told Fox News Digital that if the actor isn’t extradited to Michigan, he’ll appear in San Diego court again on Nov. 14.

“We are gearing up for the fight with Oakland County as they have repeatedly violated Mr. McCrary’s due process and rights,” she said.

He was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol near the U.S.-Mexico border in California on a fugitive arrest after he failed to appear in court in Michigan tied to the child support case.

During the Oct. 15 hearing, prosecutors reportedly pointed out that this is the third time McCrary has been arrested on the same charges, having previously been detained in 2015 and in 2023. According to ABC 10 News, he was extradited from Los Angeles to Michigan in 2023.

At the arraignment, prosecutors argued McCrary was in Mexico pursuing real estate deals, while his defense claimed he was working with a group to build homes in Tijuana — a project Barlow previously described to Fox News Digital.

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“Darius was picked up at the Border of Mexico because he was partnering with a real estate developer that is building homes for the homeless in Tijuana, Mexico,” she said. “Darius was doing a GOOD DEED when he discovered he had a felony warrant at the Border of Mexico for a missed court appearance.”

She continued, “The missed court appearance was for an ongoing child support dispute, whereas Oakland County mailed the notice to appear to Darius PO BOX giving him only 3 days to appear in Michigan Court. Unfortunately, Darius had COVID therefore did not check his PO Box until the day after his court date.”

“However, he immediately notified the judge with a doctor’s note diagnosis of COVID,” his rep added.

McCrary is best known for playing Eddie Winslow on the hit sitcom, “Family Matters.” He starred on the show for 215 episodes from 1989 to 1998.

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Cuomo gains on Mamdani as New York City mayoral race tightens with 3 weeks left

With under three weeks until Election Day, Zohran Mamdani holds a double-digit lead in the race for the nation’s most populous city, but former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is narrowing the gap, according to the latest public polling.

The tightening contest underscores how Cuomo’s independent bid continues to draw support from disaffected Democrats following embattled Mayor Eric Adams’ withdrawal from the race.

Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist state lawmaker from the New York City borough of Queens who shocked the political world in June with his convincing win over Cuomo and nine other candidates to capture the Democratic Party’s mayoral nomination, stands at 46% support among likely voters in the most recent survey in the race, from Quinnipiac University.

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Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid multiple scandals and who is running as an independent candidate in the general election after losing the primary, had 33% support in the survey, which was conducted Oct. 3–7.

Guardian Angels co-founder Curtis Sliwa, who for a second straight election is the Republican mayoral nominee in the Democratic-dominated city, stood at 15% in the poll.

Quinnipiac’s survey was the only major poll in the field entirely after Adams, a Democrat who was running for re-election as an independent, dropped out of the race. 

In Quinnipiac University’s previous poll, conducted in early September, Mamdani held a 22-point 45%-23% lead over Cuomo, with Sliwa at 15% and Adams at 12%.

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“The numbers changed, but the contours of the race haven’t. Andrew Cuomo picked up the bulk of Adams’ supporters, cutting into Zohran Mamdani’s lead, but Mamdani’s frontrunner status by double digits stays intact,” Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Mary Snow said last week, when the survey was released.

But Cuomo’s campaign spotlighted the poll, with longtime spokesman Rich Azzopardi claiming in a statement that the survey confirmed that “this race is shifting decisively” and that “Mamdani remains stagnant.”

According to the survey, Mamdani was winning the enthusiasm battle with 90% of his supporters saying they were very or somewhat enthusiastic. The level of enthusiasm dropped to 85% among Sliwa supporters and down to 69% among those backing Cuomo.

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A Fox News poll of New York City voters, just before Adams bowed out of the race, asked respondents their second choice candidate. Without Adams in the running, Mamdani topped Cuomo 45%-31% among registered voters, with Sliwa at 13%.

Among likely voters, Mamdani’s lead over Cuomo edged up to 48%-32%, with Sliwa at 13%.

The Ugandan-born Mamdani, if elected, would become the first Muslim and first millennial mayor in New York City’s history.

Mamdani surged to the Democratic primary victory thanks to an energetic campaign that put a major focus on affordability and New York City’s high cost of living. It was fueled by a grassroots army of supporters and backing from top national progressive champions, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

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Mamdani made smart use of social media platforms, including TikTok, as he engaged low-propensity voters. He proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering free childcare for children up to age 5 and setting up government-run grocery stores.

Mamdani has been heavily criticized by his rivals not only for his far-left proposals, but also for his criticism of Israel, his past negative comments regarding the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and his proposal to shift certain responsibilities away from the NYPD and focus on social services and community-based programs.